Enchanting

Enchanting provides Glyphs in Elder Scrolls Online. Glyphs are enchantments which are applied on gear. There’s three types of glyphs: armor glyphs, weapon glyphs, and jewelry glyphs . Glyphs are crafted at enchanting station, typically found in towns. The combination of runes used to craft the glyph affects the quality and effects of the final glyph, much like the combination of reagents does in Alchemy.

To craft glyphs, the enchanter needs Runes. These are gathered in the world. The runestone nodes visually appear to be very small-sized shrines, which come in different colors. The color of the shrine defines the type of the rune.

When an enchanter crafts new glyphs, they will learn the translation of the runes used in the process. The translations define what kind of effects the rune will have in a glyph.

Runes Explained

There’s three types of runestones in Elder Scrolls Online: Potency Runes, Essence Runes and Aspect Runes. In order to craft a glyph, you need all three of them, and each of the rune will define what the final glyph does.

Let’s say we have a weapon enchant glyph with the following effect: ‘Deals 15 Fire Damage’.

The Potency rune is needed to tell the glyph what it actually does, in this case it simply ‘deals damage’. It also determines how high level you must be to be able to use the Glyph.

The Essence rune tells the glyph what kind of damage it does, in this case ‘Fire Damage’. It determines the attribute or stat that the enchant affects.

The Aspect Rune tells the glyph how much damage it does, in this case ’15’. In short, the Aspect rune determines the quality of the Glyph.

Potency Runes

Potency Runes are one of the three required runestones for Glyphs. Potency runes determine how high level you must be to be able to use the Glyph. They are gathered from blue rune nodes, and are square-shaped.

Potency Runes can be either additive or subtractive. As an example, you can combine any of the additive potency runes together with the Essence rune ‘Rakeipa’ (translation is Fire) to create a weapon enchant glyph which deals x Fire damage. If you use a subtractive rune instead of an additive rune, you get a different glyph. In this case it would be a Fire Resistance jewelry enchant glyph.

Special thanks to beta tester SirAndy for compiling a list of the rune translations and glyph combinations.

Additive Potency Runes

Rune

Translation

Glyph Prefix

Potency Level

Gear Level

Jora

Develop

Trifling

Level 1

Level 1—10

Porade

Add

Inferior

Level 1

Level 5—15

Jera

Increase

Petty

Level 2

Level 10—20

Jejora

Raise

Slight

Level 2

Level 15—25

Odra

Gain

Minor

Level 3

Level 20—30

Pojora

Supplement

Lesser

Level 3

Level 25—35

Edora

Boost

Moderate

Level 4

Level 30—40

Jaera

Advance

Average

Level 4

Level 35—45

Pora

Augment

Strong

Level 5

Level 40—50

Denara

Strenghten

Major

Level 5

Level VR1—VR3

Rera

Exaggerate

Greater

Level 6

Level VR3—VR5

Derado

Empower

Grand

Level 7

Level VR5—VR7

Recura

Magnify

Splendid

Level 8

Level VR7—VR9

Kura

Intensify

Monumental

Level 9

Level VR10—VR14

Rejera

Amplify

Superb

Level 10

Level VR15

Repora

Reinforce

Superb

Level 10

Level VR16

Subtractive Potency Runes

Rune

Translation

Glyph Prefix

Potency Level

Gear Level

Jode

Reduce

Trifling

Level 1

Level 1—10

Notade

Subtract

Inferior

Level 1

Level 5—15

Ode

Shrink

Petty

Level 2

Level 10—20

Tade

Decrease

Slight

Level 2

Level 15—25

Jayde

Deduct

Minor

Level 3

Level 20—30

Edode

Lower

Lesser

Level 3

Level 25—35

Pojode

Diminish

Moderate

Level 4

Level 30—40

Rekude

Weaken

Average

Level 4

Level 35—45

Hade

Lessen

Strong

Level 5

Level 40—50

Idode

Impair

Major

Level 5

Level VR1—VR3

Pode

Remove

Greater

Level 6

Level VR3—VR5

Kedeko

Drain

Grand

Level 7

Level VR5—VR7

Rede

Deprive

Splendid

Level 8

Level VR7—VR9

Kude

Negate

Monumental

Level 9

Level VR10—VR14

Jehade

Divest

Superb

Level 10

Level VR15

Itade

Plunder

Superb

Level 10

Level VR16

Essence Runes

Essence Runes are the second type of runestones. They determine the attribute or stat that the enchant affects. Essence runes are gathered from yellow runestone nodes, and are trapezoid-shaped.

The stats and attributes will not be too strange to Elder Scrolls players. The standard elemental damage types, Magicka, Health and Stamina boosts and regenerations exist in ESO as well as a couple of other effects.

Rune

Translation

Dekeipa

Frost

Deni

Stamina

Denima

Stamina Regen

Deteri

Armor

Haoko

Disease

Jaedi

Shield

Kaderi

Shield

Kuoko

Poison

Lire

Physical Harm

Makderi

Spell Harm

Makko

Magicka

Makkoma

Magicka Regen

Meip

Shock

Oko

Health

Okoma

Health Regen

Okori

Power

Oru

Alchemist

Rakeipa

Fire

Taderi

Physical Harm

Aspect Runes

Aspect Runes are the third and final type of runestones. Aspect runes determine the quality of the crafted Glyph. They are gathered from red runestone nodes, and are round-shaped.

The translation of aspect runes directly matches their rarity/quality, which visually shows as item color, ranging from white (base/common) to gold (legendary).

Rune

Translation

Glyph Quality

Aspect Level

Ta

Base

White

Level 1

Jejota

Fine

Green

Level 1

Denata

Superior

Blue

Level 2

Rekuta

Artifact

Purple

Level 3

Kuta

Legendary

Gold

Level 4

List of Glyphs in Elder Scrolls Online

As mentioned earlier, there’s three types of glyphs: Armor glyphs, weapon glyphs and jewelry glyphs. Here’s a list of all possible rune combinations, glyph names and glyph descriptions under each category.

Note that the potency rune you use in crafting the glyphs will affect its name and its level. If you use the additive potency rune ‘Pora’, for example, the Glyph’s prefix will be ‘strong’: ‘Glyph of Magicka’ then changes to ‘Strong Glyph of Magicka’, and so on.

Armor Glyphs

The list of armor glyphs is pretty short. There’s only three ways to enchant your armor; the glyphs will either add Magicka, Health or Stamina on an armor piece.

Glyph Name

Glyph Description

Potency Rune

Essence Rune

Glyph of Magicka

Adds Max Magicka

Any Additive Potency Rune

Makko

Glyph of Health

Adds Max Health

Any Additive Potency Rune

Oko

Glyph of Stamina

Adds Max Stamina

Any Additive Potency Rune

Deni

Glyph of Prismatic Defense

Adds Max Health, Magicka & Stamina

Any Additive Potency Rune

Hakeijo

Small Armor slots vs Normal Armor slots

Something to consider with Armor Glyphs is that they come in two sizes: normal enchants and small enchants. Small enchants don’t give you the full bonus of the glyph that the tooltip promises. In reality it’s only around 40% of the tooltip’s value. All glyphs applied on Shoulders, Waist, Hands and Feet slots will be small enchants. If you apply the same glyph on other armor slots, you’ll get the full benefit of the enchant.

Armor Slot

Enchant Type

Head

Normal enchant

Chest

Normal enchant

Legs

Normal enchant

Shield

Normal enchant

Feet

Small enchant

Shoulders

Small enchant

Hands

Small enchant

Waist

Small enchant

Weapon Glyphs

As you can see there’s quite a few ways to enchant your weapon in ESO. The standard ‘deal elemental damage’ enchants and ‘absorb Stamina/Magicka/Health’ enchants from previous Elder Scrolls games exist in ESO as well. There’s new ones, too, such as Glyph of Rage: Increase your power.

Glyph Name

Glyph Description

Potency Rune

Essence Rune

Glyph of Frost

Deals Frost Damage

Any Additive Potency Rune

Dekeipa

Glyph of Foulness

Deals Disease Damage

Any Additive Potency Rune

Haoko

Glyph of Poison

Deals Poison Damage

Any Additive Potency Rune

Kuoko

Glyph of Shock

Deals Shock Damage

Any Additive Potency Rune

Meip

Glyph of Rage

Increases your Power by ‘x’ for ‘y’ seconds

Any Additive Potency Rune

Okori

Glyph of Flame

Deals Fire Damage

Any Additive Potency Rune

Rakeipa

Glyph of Hardening

Grants a ‘x’ point Damage Shield for ‘y’ seconds

Any Additive Potency Rune

Deteri

Glyph of Absorb Magicka

Deals Magic Damage and recovers Magicka

Any Subtractive Potency Rune

Makko

Glyph of Absorb Health

Deals Magic Damage and recovers Health

Any Subtractive Potency Rune

Oko

Glyph of Decrease Health

Deals unresistable damage

Any Subtractive Potency Rune

Okoma

Glyph of Weakening

Reduce target’s Power by ‘x’ for ‘y’ seconds

Any Subtractive Potency Rune

Okori

Glyph of Absorb Stamina

Deals Magic Damage and recovers Stamina

Any Subtractive Potency Rune

Deni

Glyph of Crushing

Reduce target’s Armor by ‘x’ for ‘y’ seconds

Any Subtractive Potency Rune

Deteri

Jewelry Glyphs

Considering that there’s only three item slots for jewelry (two rings and a necklace), the number of different jewelry glyphs is huge. You can reduce magicka/stamina costs of abilities, increase resistances, improve regeneration rates and much more.

Glyph Name

Glyph Description

Potency Rune

Essence Rune

Glyph of Increase Physical Harm

Adds Weapon Damage

Additive

Taderi

Glyph of Health Regen

Adds Health Recovery

Additive

Okoma

Glyph of Magicka Regen

Adds Magicka Recovery

Additive

Makkoma

Glyph of Bashing

Increase Bash Damage

Additive

Kaderi / Jaedi

Glyph of Stamina Regen

Adds Stamina Recovery

Additive

Denima

Glyph of Potion Boost

Increase Potion effect

Additive

Oru

Glyph of Increase Magical Harm

Adds Spell Damage

Additive

Makderi

Glyph of Frost Resist

Adds Frost Resistance

Subtractive

Dekeipa

Glyph of Poison Resist

Adds Poison Resistance

Subtractive

Kuoko

Glyph of Decrease Spell Harm

Adds Spell Resistance

Subtractive

Makderi

Glyph of Decrease Physical Harm

Adds Armor

Subtractive

Taderi / Lire

Glyph of Reduce Feat Cost

Reduce Stamina cost of abilities

Subtractive

Denima

Glyph of Disease Resist

Adds Disease Resistance

Subtractive

Haoko

Glyph of Shielding

Reduce cost of Bash and reduce cost of Blocking

Subtractive

Kaderi

Glyph of Reduce Spell Cost

Reduce Magicka cost of Spells

Subtractive

Makkoma

Glyph of Shock Resist

Adds Shock Resistance

Subtractive

Meip

Glyph of Potion Speed

Reduce the cooldown of Potions below this item’s level by ‘x’ seconds

Subtractive

Oru

Glyph of Fire Resist

Adds Fire Resistance

Subtractive

Rakeipa

How to Use Glyphs

A question you constantly see pop up in ESO beta is how to enchant your items or how to apply glyphs on your gear. Since this is not clear to a great number of players, we’ll show you how to do it.

Using Glyphs is simple. First you must either open your inventory or current gear, then right click on the item you wish to enchant. A menu will pop up, and if the item can be enchanted, it will have the ‘enchant’ option.

Choosing ‘enchant’ will open another window, showing the Glyphs you have in your inventory that can be applied on the item. Again, note that there are three types of glyphs: armor glyphs, jewelry glyphs and weapon glyphs. Only the right types of Glyph will show up in this menu.

You can click on the desired Glyph and choose to enchant your item. By default the Enchant button is bound to ‘E’ in this window. You will also see a preview of your item’s stats with the enchantment.

Once you’ve completed these steps, the Glyph will disappear from your inventory and the enchant will appear on the item.

Glyph Extraction

Glyphs can be extracted at an enchanting station. This is the process of breaking down the glyph. Once you extract a glyph, it will be destroyed. Extracting a glyph will yield runes and inspiration points for enchanting, also known as crafting experience. You can increase the chance of getting getting runestones from extraction with the enchanting skill line passive Aspect Extraction.

Enchanting Skill Line

The Enchanting skill line offers five passive skills which provide bonuses to Enchanting.

Potency Improvement is the passive skill you must invest skill points in if you want to advance as an enchanter. Putting points in this passive will allow you to craft higher level glyphs.

Aspect Improvement allows you to use higher quality Aspect runes for Enchanting. The higher the quality of your Aspect rune, the better the stats of your glyph. Any serious enchanter will invest all three skill points in this passive.

Keen Eye: Rune Stones gives the rune stone nodes a glow in the world, making them easier to see. I find that in general the rune stones are quite easy to see as it is, but if taking this passive means you’ll have an easier time spotting the nodes, go ahead and take it.

Hireling will send you rune stones every day. Investing in this skill will increase the frequency and quantity at which the runes are sent. It’s free runes, what can you say? As long as you have the skill points, it’s a nice passive to have if you care about Enchanting.

Aspect Extraction increases the chance of extracting Aspect runes from glyphs. Maxing out at 15%, the value of this passive isn’t amazing. It does mean you can extract the legendary Aspect runes easier, which will come in handy once you want to craft more powerful glyphs for your gear. Again, if you are into Enchanting, you probably want to take this anyway.

Enchanting Skills

Passive

Potency Improvement (1/9)

Allows the use of different Potency Rune stones to craft
higher level glyphs.